America's great rental divide:

[hollydolly]

The average houses in Europe are smaller than the average homes in the USA/Canada new Zealand and Australia..by a large margin where land is much more plentiful.

 

[hollydolly]

 

[hollydolly]

London’s Minimum Space Standard​

In London they have a new minimum space standard as part of the London Plan. For new flats the minimum standards are 37 m2 (398 ft2)for one person, 50 m2 (538 ft2) for two people in one bedroom, 61 m2 (657 ft2) for three people with two bedrooms, 70 m2 (753 ft2) for four people in two bedrooms and 74 m2 (797 ft2) for four people in three bedrooms. Are these enough space?


In my mind if you have decent ceiling heights, good windows, clever storage and not too much stuff a little space can go a long way.

Smaller Houses Take Less Energy To Build And Keep Habitable​

A smaller home requires less embodied energy to build, has lower heating and cooling needs, needs fewer furnishings, takes less time to maintain and requires less work to fund.


In terms of carbon emissions small is beautiful. But how small is too small?


How much space do you think is enough?

How Big is a House? Average House Size by Country - 2024 - Shrink That Footprint

 

[Paco Dennis]

Many countries feel the weight of immigrants at their border and beyond. I don't know where we are going to house all these people, and have them paying rent. It is getting overwhelming. I wonder if it is a good time to move...anywhere?

 

[StarSong]

I notice countries with very small residential floor space were mostly built out a century ago or more, when the tendency was higher density living. Countries ravaged by the World Wars already had housing density templates and were mostly restored with footprints similar to what was destroyed. That is to say, bombed out city blocks didn't transition to suburbs or farmland.

On the other hand, most home building in "New World" countries like the US, Canada, Australia & NZ occurred post WWII. They broke ground in previously undeveloped areas and happened when automobiles were commonplace so there wasn't a pressing need to live in town. More space = bigger houses.

 

[dilettante]

Anthills are anthills wherever they're piled. Comparing countries doesn't mean much unless we count the amount of available low-density area and not meaningless averages.